


Sleepless Nights

by equilateral_asshat



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Archived From My Tumblr, F/M, Nightmares, pinecest - Freeform, pinescest - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 12:02:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16994634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/equilateral_asshat/pseuds/equilateral_asshat





	Sleepless Nights

It all began when they were sixteen years old.

One night, during a Summer spent at the Mystery Shack, Mabel had sat up screaming, hysterical. Dipper was immediately roused from his own slumber, and before he could ask what was wrong, she had vaulted the distance between the two old, lumpy beds, clinging around her brother’s waist.

“What’s wrong, Mabel?!”

“N-nightmares,” was all she offered, burying her face in her brothers ratty tee shirt that had been serving duty as pajamas, nuzzling into his midsection. Just as he rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, the attic bedroom’s door was thrown open, Stan and Ford barging in with brass knuckles and raygun at the ready, followed by Soos with a mop. Mabel shrank further against Dipper at first, then visibly relaxed when she noticed that it was merely their Grunkles and friend.

“Pumpkin, what happened, there was a shout and a ruckus up here!” Stan demanded, stern gaze falling on Dipper. The teenager merely shook his head in a ‘hey I didn’t do anything’ way, heart thudding in his chest with a panic.

“I dreamed about Bill tricking me into giving him the rift,” Mabel explained, sitting up next to her brother, voice shaky. “It was like… like I was watching it from another viewpoint. I tried to scream at twelve year old me to stop, not to do it, it was all a mistake but no words would come out. It was like I was trying to scream underwater or something.” She paused to wipe tears away on her nightshirt.

“Mabel, that happened over three years ago. For all we know Bill’s long gone,” her brother offered. She bit her lower lip, but eventually nodded.

“I kn-know it was just a dumb nightmare but when Blandin or, well, Bill inside of him, took the rift and smashed the container for it, his head spun on his shoulders to stare straight at me,” she noted with a shudder. “Those yellow, piercing eyes…”

With a whimper she buried herself further against her sibling’s embrace. Stan frowned, opening his mouth as though to say something, but a six fingered hand fell on his shoulder.

“Well, it looks like you’ll be fine for now, Mabel. But if these dreams persist, don’t hesitate to tell me. If some tiny part of Bill is still out there in the Mindscape, he might be trying to manifest in some way,” Ford noted. Mabel nodded with as much enthusiasm as her shaken mood could muster. “But, yes. Come along Stanley, Soos. Let the twins get back to bed.”

As they all turned to leave, Ford ushering them out, he chanced a look back at the two curled up on Dipper’s bed; Mabel’s face buried against her brother’s chest, and Dipper gently but protectively holding her in a hug. Ford’s gaze caught Dipper’s, and the the two merely nodded at one another. Without another spoken word, Ford closed the door behind himself.

A few silent minutes went by, Mabel still huddled up tightly to her brother.

“Think you’re ready to try to get back to sleep, sis?” She nodded weakly against his frame. “Okay then, let’s get you back into-”

“N-no!” she protested, fingers digging into his shirt. “I… I don’t wanna sleep alone tonight, can I stay over here with you?”

She finally looked up, one set of amber eyes locking onto the other; hers puffy and bloodshot from crying, his own red from lost sleep. With a short, careless sigh he nodded, leaning to plant a small kiss on her forehead.

“I can’t say no to you.”

———

———

For the next few weeks, the nights went by with almost no consequence. Mabel slept soundly, and everybody relaxed. Surely it was just one nightmare, right?

The first night the twins were back home in Piedmont, however, it happened again.

Dipper was laying in bed, reading a mystery novel for the eleventh time, humming and scribbling over-or adding to-the notes he had added in the margins. He had just closed the book and switched off his desk lamp when he heard a scream of protest come from his sister’s room across the hall.

He was out of bed in an instant, and as soon as his door was open, so was their parent’s further down the hallway. Both their mother and father came rushing to see what the commotion was about as Dipper stepped through his sister’s doorway.

She was curled up on the bed, clinging around herself and rocking with tears streaking down her face. As soon as she saw her brother, she sprung up and hugged tightly against him. “It was the same dream again, oh god it felt so real,” she muttered into his chest. Dipper had no idea what to do, really, other than pat her on the back as he looked up to meet their father’s eyes.

“She had a really bad nightmare almost a month ago, gave all of us at the shack a pretty nasty fright at first,” he offered. While their father just held his stern expression, their mother stepped into the room to join the hug. A few minutes passed, and once she seemed to have calmed down and gotten into bed, a small family meeting, minus one Mabel, convened just a short ways down the hall.

“You said she had a nightmare?” Dipper nodded at his father.

“Yeah, she had a dream that she did something that could have potentially destroyed the world,” he explained, leaving out the crucial details such as ‘but that actually happened and she won’t forgive herself’ and ‘it may be a demonic entity beyond our human scope of understanding trying to manifest himself again’. Their parent’s would never understand any of that, let alone begin to believe it.

“And she’s had it once before?” his mom asked.

“Yeah, it’s kind of loosely based on her losing something important, belonged to great uncle Ford,” he noted. “He doesn’t hold it against her at all, though, and she knows it’s all forgiven. Don’t know why it would get her so worked up.” He felt horrible for telling only half the truth to his parents, but again, he knew they’d never understand. His mother nodded satisfactorily.

“Well, hopefully she realizes it’s nothing and it doesn’t come back.”

Dipper could only agree.

———

———

The next nightmare was different. It made itself known in pretty much the same manner; everybody was asleep or getting ready to sleep, when a shout of terror came from Mabel’s room. Thudding feet came rushing from different directions, but Dipper was once again the first into the bedroom.

This time it had been about being trapped in Mabel Land; they didn’t escape the bubble this time. All of the nightmarish creatures made real after she lost control had captured them all. She never saw what happened to Dipper, Soos, or Wendy, but they had been screaming in pain and terror, and the noises were driving her mad.

“It wouldn’t stop, the screaming wouldn’t stop and it was all my fault because if I hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have come to save me or-” she rambled on, clinging tightly to her brother. He was sat on the edge of the bed beside her, running his fingers through her hair to help calm her. He glanced up at his mom and dad, offering little more than a shake of the head and a frown.

“You gonna be okay, Mabel?” their mother asked. The Pines girl merely nodded confirmation. “Well, get back to sleep as soon as you can, okay?” While their mom turned to return to bed, their father motioned for Dipper to step into the hallway with him. When he moved to stand, Mabel clung tighter.

“Hey, Mabes, sshhh, it’s okay, I’m just going to step into the hallway really quick, okay?” She gave a weak nod. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” With a hurried pace, he stepped out into the hallway with his father. “What’s up?”

“Are you sure she’s okay? That’s the third nightmare she’s had in just under two months, counting the one you said she had back in Gravity Falls.” Dipper could do little more than shrug.

“I mean, she doesn’t seem to be too negatively impacted by them, Dad. She’s just losing a little sleep. It’s not like they’re making it hard for her to function…” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously; he wasn’t entirely convinced by his own answer, but he didn’t want to think of what his father’s suggestion might be if he said she wasn’t going to be okay. Anything she told a therapist about their first summer in Oregon might have her locked away in a looney bin. Both of them, even, if he was brought in to confirm her stories.

“Well, if these keep up, we might need to look into some things,” his father said, causing Dipper to flinch. “I know, I know, I don’t like the idea of it either but she can’t just lean on you like this to cope, son. What happens when you aren’t there for her?”

“I will _always_ be there for my sister,” Dipper spat back, a little more anger in his voice than he had meant. He felt his father’s stern gaze for a moment. “S-sorry, Dad. Just, protective, you know?”

His father just nodded, then clapped his son on the shoulder. “I understand. Goodnight, Dipper.”

Their parents back in bed, Dipper returned to his sister’s room to find her hugging around her midsection tightly, still sniffling. “You gonna be okay, Mabes?” She merely shrugged.

“Can… can you stay the night, at least, Dip?” He sighed deeply, rubbing over his tired eyes with the heel of his palm. He didn’t want to make a habit of this. But when he looked at her again, the hurt, the need for comfort in her eyes, he felt his heart melt.

_I could never say no to you…_

“I’ll go get my sleeping bag, I’ll stay on the floor. That way if you need me, I’ll be right there, okay?” She nodded, a weak smile curling the corners of her mouth. He smiled back, returning to his room for his pillow and sleeping bag, and then returning shortly thereafter and unfurling the bag. Once he had it set up, he helped Mabel lay back down under the comforter of her bed. “You good?”

“C-can I, um,” she started, looking somewhat sheepish. “Can I have a goodnight kiss?” He didn’t understand why that request seemed to embarrass his normally affectionate sister, so he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her forehead. She hummed, but then shook her head. “No, I mean…. C’mere,” she requested, tugging him down for a quick peck on the lips. He just quirked a curious grin at her. She softly swung at his face with one of her stuffed unicorn toys. “I just needed to feel like you were really here and that… that I wasn’t still in the bubble, okay?”

“You’re fine!” he protested with a weak laugh, batting the plush equine away. “I’m getting in my sleeping bag though, okay?” She nodded. “Goodnight sis.”

“Night, bro-bro…”

———

———

The next nightmare happened while Dipper wasn’t home.

He was in the middle of a _Dungeons, Dungeons and more Dungeons_ game with some classmates. It was the middle of an intense combat, and according to the DM it was supposed to be a very important point in the story’s plot he had been constructing for the group. Dipper was waiting for his turn to roll around when his phone buzzed. He withdrew it to silence the call, when he noticed it was Mabel. He hesitated for a brief second.

“Dipper, no phones at the game table, man,” one of the other players noted. He held up his free hand to ask for silence, tapping the answer icon as he stood and walked away from the table. “Hey c’mon, we all agreed that-”

Dipper wasn’t paying attention; the moment he answered the call there was a string of panicked thank you’s and sorry’s. “Mabel, slow down, what’s wrong?”

“Bubble dream, again,” she mumbled. “This time they all dissolved into bugs and I could feel them, oh god Dipper I can _still_ feel their gross little legs digging into my skin as they overtake me and-” She was cut off by a sob. “Please come home, please I need you here.”

He felt a pang of slight regret in the back of his mind, but nonetheless, he threw on his hoodie and started to zip up. “I’ll be right there, Mabes, just relax, okay? I’m only at Eric’s, I’ll be home in ten minutes.” Once he managed to calm her down and hung up, he turned around to find everybody glaring at him. “What?!”

“We’ve been planning this game for weeks, man! You can’t just bail on us because your sister has a bad dream and her feelings get hurt,” one of his friends groaned. His hands clenched into fists at his sides as the rest nodded in agreement.

“I’m so sorry that my family means less to all of you than this game, and I would hope that if any of your siblings needed support you’d do what I’m doing.” Eric sighed with disappointment.

“I’m not going to put this whole thing on hold just so you can go coddle your sister when she pusses out over a harmless nightmare.” Dipper just stared for a moment, then grabbed his character sheet and mini. The mini he chucked into a nearby wastebasket, and the sheet he lit on fire over a lit candle (Eric insisted on “ambience”). Eric started to voice his protests, but Dipper silenced him with a glare. Once his sheet was mostly burnt away, he waved the flames out and crammed the burnt scrap of paper into a plastic cup filled with water. “Dipper, what the fuck?!”

“There, my guy’s dead. Have fun without me.” He spun on his heels and marched out without another word. The entire drive home, his phone blew up with text messages from the group, but he ended up chucking it into his back seat. They were the last people he wanted to talk to.

Once he got home, he slammed his car into park, yanked the keys from the ignition and bolted to the porch. He had the door open in an instant, and had gone no further than the living room when he saw Mabel sitting on the couch, clinging around a pillow from her bed. On seeing her brother, her tear-filled eyes seemed to light up.

“Oh thank you, thank you you came back I was so scared-” she rambled, tugging him onto the couch. She kept whispering into his shoulder that she was sorry for ruining his game night, that she was such a horrible, selfish person but he merely shook his head.

“Mabel, don’t worry about it. I’m here for you. You’re fine, it was just a nightmare, okay?”

“But it felt so _real_ ,” she moaned. He squeezed her in a hug.

“Mom and dad not up?” She shook her head.

“I… I didn’t scream, this time. I just woke up sobbing and scratching at my arms,” she explained, sitting back to look at her forearm with a displeased frown. Tiny but harmless scratches marred the flesh from wrist to elbow. “I swear it felt like I had bugs under my skin…”

He took her arm in his hands and rubbed over the skin, fingertips following the scratch marks. She seemed to shrink a bit, as if his inspection of her self inflicted-but superficial-wounds would make him think less of her.

“Well, you didn’t dig too deep, sis, so the marks should be gone in the morning,” he said, his tone flat. “And I don’t feel any bugs. You’re fine, Mabes. I have to ask, though,” he went on, “Do you have any idea what made these nightmares crop up all of a sudden?”

Mabel sighed heavily.

“They… they aren’t so sudden, really,” she admitted. “I’ve been having them ever since that first Summer. They just weren’t this frequent or so _real_.” He tilted his head as he listened. “I would just wake up in a cold sweat, or jerk awake or maybe even roll out of bed and the floor would wake me up when I landed.” With a grumble she leaned against her twin. “I didn’t think about it too much back then, or I would have said something sooner.”

“I… I hate to ask or suggest this but,” he started, and her eyes swiveling up to look at him made his breath hitch for a moment. “Have you thought about… talking to anybody about this? Not like, me or our Grunkles but like… a professional?”

“You think I’m nuts,” she huffed, drawing away from him to the far end of the couch. She hugged her legs to her chest, chin on her knees.

“What, no!” he protested. “I just think maybe they might be able to help you figure out why the nightmares are getting worse, you know? Maybe help them stop.?” She refused to look at him. “Mabel, I’m just asking you to consider it, okay? What happens when one of us gets married years from now? How is it going to look when you tell your husband you need me to sleep nearby in case you have another bad nightmare?”

“Why do you presume I’m the one who’d be married,” she groused. “After all I’m the one who’s nuts…”

“You are not crazy!” he groaned. “Besides, nobody’s going to want to marry me.”

“And just why wouldn’t they? You’re a loving, smart person who would do anything to protect the people he loves,” she muttered.

“Like ask them to get help in situations like this, you mean?” He watched carefully as her posture relaxed. Eventually she nodded, letting her arms and legs unfurl from each other and leaning back over to rest against him.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she said. “I… I just don’t like feeling like this is out of my control.”

“That’s perfectly normal,” he responded. “But seriously, please, consider it?” She nodded. Dipper looked over at the clock on the wall, and winced at the time. “Anyway, it’s past three in the morning. We should get some sleep.” She nodded, but whimpered, one of her hands threading into his own.

He stood up, but instead of pulling her to her feet, he let go of her hand and stepped away to grab a blanket off of the back of a nearby chair. Wrapping it around his shoulders, he sat back down and wrapped one end around his sister, pulling her into a loose, snuggling embrace.

“I didn’t even have to ask, huh?” she weakly chuckled. “I’m pathetic…”

“Hey, hey, look at me,” he demanded, tilting her head up. “You’ve carried this by yourself for so long. Asking for help isn’t pathetic at all.” He leaned in and gave her a small kiss. When he went to pull back, he could have sworn she followed briefly, to extend it. _Why would she…? Stop being paranoid, Dipper. She’s emotional and needs the support._ “Love you, Mabes,” he yawned out.

“G’night, broseph…”

———

———

“Daddy…?”

Everybody at the table glanced up from their breakfast to look at Mabel, who was pushing a bite of waffle around the plate with her fork. Swallowing his own bite of food, their father cleared his throat. “Yes hon?”

“I… I think I need to talk to somebody,” she relented. “About my bad dreams.”

Dipper sat silently, and when her gaze slipped his direction he quickly dropped his eyes to his plate. In the last two months since his interrupted game night, she had woke up three more times. Only once-last night-had she screamed, and when Dipper stepped into the hallway, his father was peeking out of their bedroom door. When he saw Dipper, he merely frowned, nodded, and then returned to bed.

All three times, Dipper had bent to his sister’s request that he stay with her that night. The first time he’d brought his sleeping bag in again, and they had slept with her in the bed, and him on the floor yet again. The second time, she begged him to sleep in the bed with her, saying she needed to feel him there. He had relented by sleeping over the covers, with her under. The third time was the night things had gotten… weird.

They were curled up on the bed together, her as the big spoon, when she mumbled something into the back of his neck. He asked her to repeat it, and she shook her head no. With a grunt, he squirmed out of her grasp and rolled over to face her.

“What did you say?”

“I’m… I’m sorry I’m such a horrible sister, I don’t want you to hate me…” She was crying, but not like she did when she woke up from the nightmares. This was like… heartbreak?

“Mabel, I don’t-I could never hate you!” he reassured, pulling her into a close hug.

“B-but I keep waking you up, and that one time I interrupted your g-game night-”

“Eric’s a hack as a DM anyhow…”

“And I won’t let you go back to your own bed, even! I’m just greedy and… blargh!” She ground her hands into her eyes, groaning. Dipper grasped her by the wrists and pulled her hands from her face.

“Hey, hey! Listen to me,” he said with a hushed tone. “You’re my sister, my best friend, and I’m not going to let you suffer through this mess alone. Okay?” She nodded halfheartedly. With a sigh, he shifted and kissed gently at her forehead. “I love you, Mabes, I could never hate y-”

His sentence was cut short by a kiss. At first he didn’t realize what was happening until he felt her lips move against his own again. His hands went from her wrists to her shoulders, but he neither made the effort to push her away or pull her closer. On the third kiss, he found himself kissing back momentarily.

 _This is wrong!_ a voice in his head shouted at him. _She’s your sister, you can’t do this with her!_

_Do what?! She’s just hurting inside, she thought you hated her, she just wants the affirmation that you don’t._

_You are MAKING. OUT. With MABEL._

“Dipper…?” His sister’s voice snapped him out of his own head. She sounded terrified, and he silently wondered if she was struggling with what had happened as much as he just was. He gulped down the lump in his throat.

“Y-yeah?”

“Are… are you freaking out as much as me?” He gave a tiny nod. She sobbed, and instantly any instinct he had telling him to run melted. “Oh god please don’t go, I promise I won’t do it again I just-”

He pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, delicately, and pulled away slowly. “I… I’m not going anywhere, okay? Just, uh, a little confused.”

She just nodded and clung tightly around his chest, whimpering.

“Please don’t leave, please don’t hate me,” she moaned. He rubbed her back softly, fingertips rolling in small circles.

“Hey, I can’t hate you, okay? And I’m not going anywhere, except to sleep.” She nodded gently.

“P-promise?”

“I could never say no, to you…”

And now, the next morning, this? He felt a pang of guilt. She was only saying it now because she felt like he might rat her out, or hate her? He was just… confused, somewhat. What were they to one another right now? Why had she initiated the brief makeout session? Why hadn’t he stopped it? At any rate, the breakfast table was not the place to discuss those. Especially in front of their parents.

“I’ll see what I can set up for you, appointment wise, hon. I’m proud of you, by the way,” their father stated with a nod, sipping at his coffee. “It takes strength to know when to admit you need help with this sort of thing.” Mabel smiled weakly with a tiny nod.

“Thanks, dad.” She then shot a very apologetic frown at her brother, who just shrugged; he wasn’t upset with her. In fact, he was proud of her for coming to the decision to get some help for her nightmares. The lip-wrestling discussion was less important right now.

The rest of breakfast passed in silence.

———

———

“So, Dipper, I’ve… been meaning to ask.”

Dipper looked up from his book, sitting in the passenger seat of his father’s truck. “Yeah Dad?”

“Your sister, she always asks for you or goes to you or something when she has these nightmares…” his father went on. Dipper felt the skin on the back of his neck tighten as goosebumps rose along his skin.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Well, she just…” His father sighed and ran a hand over his forehead and through his hair. “I notice she always wants you to… stay behind, and everything. About a half dozen times now I’ve either found you two curled up on the couch, or in her bed, and what have you.”

“We’re close, Dad. When have Mabel and I ever not been close?” he offered. Inside, though, he was shrieking. This could NOT be happening, his dad was not going to ask if he and Mabel were-

“Is there anything… more intimate going on?”

_Fuck._

“I, what?! Dad, no!” His father shot a concerned glance at him. Dipper sighed with exasperation. “Dad, Mabel’s cuddly and affectionate. When she gets upset she’s clingy, and I’m not going to just leave her to wallow in despair.” Brow furrowed, he gave his father an incredulous look. “Why would… what even made you think that?!”

His heart hammered in his chest, throat tight. He felt immensely guilty, because he wasn’t being honest. She’d kissed him, and initiated a make out session. Clearly that meant there was something else mixed up in all this, something more intimate. But, it hadn’t gone beyond that, yet, so maybe he wasn’t exactly lying, either. He still felt like he could vomit.

“You’re just… You and your sister have always been close, you’re right. And you’re at an age where you-or well, other people your age-have started to explore a physical sort of… uh…”

“Dad, are you seriously giving me the Birds-and-the-Bees talk, concerning my _sister?_ ” His father hesitated, then started laughing.

“Oh geeze, you’re right, this is awful of me. I should know better of you two. You’re both too smart to do anything that blasphemous, right?” He kept laughing, wiping a hand across his face. Dipper was fighting every urge he had to spew all over the dashboard. “Just…”

“Just what, Dad?” Dipper was terrified of the apprehension in his father’s voice.

“Promise me that you won’t hurt your sister.” Dipper stared over at his father, meeting a stern, imploring gaze. The look on that face was pleading.

“I could never do anything to hurt her, Dad,” he stated. He hoped he would never have a reason to make good on what he meant by it.

———

———

“So, Mabes, how are the sessions with Doctor Calhoun going?”

“ _Blargh_.”

“Why blargh?” Dipper quirked an eyebrow at his sister. She made an exaggerated fart noise with her lips, laying upside-down with her head angled over the edge of her bed.

“She just keeps asking me to think about what _I_ think these nightmares mean. And I flat out tell her ‘I’m still riddled with guilt over hurting people I cared about while being selfish’,” she grumbled. “And she just asks me if maybe there’s MORE to them and I cannot possibly see how that’s possible.”

“Have you explained any of what went down in Gravity Falls, that first Summer?” he asked. Mabel shook her head, chocolate ringlets of hair rustling against the side of her bed. He was sitting on the floor, leaned up against the bed next to her. She rolled over so her head was over his shoulder, staring at the book he was reading.

“Nah, I mean what would be the point? Who’s even gonna back us up, it’s s’posed to be illegal to talk about it in town.”

“Wendy probably gives as much of a fuck about that law as she did about trespassing laws,” Dipper noted, turning the page. Mabel huffed in his ear.

“Yeah but one redhead bombshell alone does not make a convincing case in our favor, Dip Dop.” He lifted both eyebrows, closing the book.

“Oh, so Wendy’s a bombshell now, huh?” he teased. “What, are you four and a half years behind me on the crush-wagon or something?”

“Pfff, please, Dip, Wendy’s hot. There’s no girl straight enough, nor man gay enough to deny that fact.” Both of them burst out laughing, Dipper genuinely glad to have his sister acting like herself.

“But seriously, you haven’t had any really bad nightmares since you started talking to Calhoun, right?” She frowned thoughtfully, which caused a bubble of worry to well up in his stomach. “Right?”

“Yes and no,” she muttered.

 _Because that’s not confusing_ , he grumbled to himself mentally.

“What’s up, sis?”

Mabel rolled and sat up on the bed, legs crossed in front of herself like a pretzel. She worried at the hem of her skirt, then at the seam on her pink and orange leggings, picking away lint as she went along it. Dipper recognized it as one of her tactics to try and distract herself from the topic at hand.

“Mabel, what’s going on?”

“The… the nightmares are less nightmares anymore and more…” she started, trailing off at the end. Dipper rolled his hand in a ‘go on’ motion. “I dunno, just general dream strangeness. I have had a couple of small episodes though.”

“And you handled them yourself?” She nodded. “That’s really cool, Mabes. I’m proud of you,” he said, placing a hand on her knee and squeezing. She tensed up.

“She… also said I should talk to you. About that thing that I did, after my last big nightmare…?” He felt his own body tense up.

“What, uh, what about that?” He licked his lips, trying to moisten them. God, his entire mouth felt like the Sahara. Yes, he wanted to talk about it, see what had been going through her head-hell, his OWN head-but he still wasn’t certain he was ready. He might never be.

“I need to apologize for forcing myself on you like that. You’ve just, well, been super protective of me. I miiight have been developing some sort of weirdo crush on you as a result,” she chuckled. “I just hope y’don’t hate me.”

“Mabes, I told you then, and I’m telling you now, I don’t hate you,” he told her. “In fact, I’m pretty sure my lack of a fight says I’m not in an entirely sane frame of mind, either,” he laughed. “I kinda just rolled with it, I mean…”

Silence hung in the air for a few beats.

“So, we’re cool?” she asked, a sad but hopeful smile crossing her face. He nodded.

“We’re cool.”

———

———

Dipper wasn’t awoken by a scream or shout the next time. He had become a light sleeper, what with being jerked awake every few weeks at the least, and he could hear his sister sobbing from the next room over. Without a second thought, he started out to his sister’s room.

When he got to the door, instead of just barging in as he had become accustomed to, he paused. His knuckles hovered an inch from the poster and sticker covered door. Should he go in and comfort her? Did she need to be alone? He struggled with it for a few moments, and just as he went to turn around, the door cracked open.

“Get in here, you dummy,” his sister muttered, sniffling with a slight sob. He nodded, dumbfounded that she’d even known he was there.

“Another nightmare?” Her head bobbed in confirmation. “Wanna talk about it?” Her head shook. “Mabes…”

“J-just… gimme a minute?” she pleaded. He relented, sitting on the edge of her bed and waiting expectantly. She sat down near him, but maintained a deliberate, cautious distance. He felt a knot form in his gut; was she afraid of him?

“Hey, what’s-” he started, extending a hand out towards her and she shrank back reflexively. He winced, as though he’d just been struck on the head, and retracted the hand.

“I… had a dream, about us.” She paused to take a deep breath, releasing it with a shaky sigh. “About that last time you stayed the night with me…”

“You know I wouldn’t hurt you, right? It was just a dre-” he began, but she she shook her head swiftly.

“You didn’t hurt me,” she confirmed. Then, with a lick of her lips, eyes clenched tightly, she fought down a sob. “I… I didn’t stop where I did, last time, that night. I kept pushing. A-and when you t-tried to stop me I _forced you_ back down onto the bed and I r-r-” a pause, for a sob and a gulp, “I took advantage of you. You squirmed, you tried to fight it but I just held you in place and used you like some sort of horrible sex slave.” Another sob. “A-and you cried, and b-b-begged and I.. I just laughed at you! I didn’t care about you.”

“Mabel, we both know that’s not true,” he muttered in a hushed voice. He extended his hand again. She eyeballed it warily, her own hands worrying at her hair as she chewed on her lower lip. “Even if you are twice as strong as me, I’m pretty sure we both know I wouldn’t just let you do something like that.”

“Wh-what if…” she answered meekly, “What if I wanted to, though…”

Dipper sat dumbfounded, staring at her in disbelief. She’d had thoughts about him, like that? About being with him, forcing herself on him?

“What do you mean?”

“Th-that night, when I started smoochin’ on you all unsisterly, when you said you weren’t g-gonna leave me to go back to your own bed,” she explained, “I had a brief moment where… I considered trying it.” A shudder ran down his spine. “I…wanted to do it when we talked about that lip-lock session, I want to do it right now…” She sighed and buried her face in her hands. “God, I’m so fucked up in the noggin.”

Dipper merely sat and attempted to process this new information. She was afraid of coercing him into doing something against his will. Or, rather, forcing him to. She was even afraid to touch him right now, as though feeling his skin against her own would trigger something. And that worried him.

But, at the same time, this was his sister, and before that, his best friend. Seeing her hate herself over something like this caused his innards to wrench into a twisted mess of guilt. Deep down, he knew she would never hurt him.

“Mabes, I-” he spoke, but she shook her head and pointed at her door.

“Dipper please, just leave before I make you do something we’ll both regret,” she sobbed. With a deep sigh he stood up and walked the short distance to her door. He looked across the hallway to his own bedroom door, then back to his sister, curled into a ball of self hatred on the bed. With a deep sigh, the door clicked shut and Mabel was wracked by another sob. “I’m so sorr-”

Before she could mutter the entire apology, she felt strong, wiry arms pull her into a tight, loving hug. She felt the unmistakable point of her brothers chin digging into the top of her skull, and could even smell him with as close as he was. It made her body shudder with a mixture of self disgust and desire.

“I would never regret anything I do with you in my life,” he mumbled. She tensed, desperate to scream at him to leave or stop talking before he said it. “I could never say no, to you.”

Within moments she had struggled out of his hug to spin around and push him onto the bed, hands on his shoulders. One set of eyes bore holes into the other. She felt her tongue glide over her lips again, and he appeared to mirror the action moments after.

“Are you sure you want this, Dipper…?” she said, voice trembling. He gently gripped at his sister’s wrist, planting a small kiss on the inside of it and a few more up into her palm.

“I trust you,” he mumbled, his own voice wavering. “And I can’t let you go on thinking I would hate you if this happens. Or for anything that ever happened when we were younger.” She whined and bit at her lower lip. “I love you, Mabel.”

At once her mouth devoured his, and his world became awash with the taste of strawberries and vanilla. All he could smell was her sugar cookie body lotion. All he could feel was the warmth of her against him, eager for confirmation that no, he didn’t hate her. And while he had to admit, as much as his conscious screamed at him that this was wrong, letting her seek this kind of intimacy with him was wrong, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He just wanted his sister to feel better, to know that he didn’t resent her at all.

Hands were everywhere, and before long each twin was down to nothing but their underwear. Dipper’s eyes danced over Mabel’s form; her gentle curves, breasts that were sized as perfect handfuls, the few gentle stretch marks over her slightly pudgy midsection. A tremor ran through her body, and he looked up to meet her eyes.

“Sh-should we stop…?” she whispered. He shook his head and cupped her cheek in his hand; she nuzzled into it warmly, eyes closing slowly.

“You’re gorgeous,” was all he could say. Her lips sought out and wrapped around his thumb, tongue working over the tip of it. He inhaled sharply, and his head rolled back. He felt fingernails dance along the hem of his boxers, and in one fell swoop they were on the floor with his pajama pants and shirt. Mabel shifted to straddle his lap, the damp fabric of her panties grinding up along his now exposed length. She faltered.

“Oh my gawd I’ve wanted this for so long,” she whimpered, “Wanted _you_ …” With one hand she tugged the crotch of her undergarment to one side, her other hand gently lining him up against her slick folds. He fought the urge to writhe. A swift plunge downwards, and she was full of him.

He hissed, sitting up to wrap his arms around her. Everything about the moment, even with its rushing to this point and skipping over any and all foreplay they could have done, felt right somehow. They fit together like a pair of cogs, meant for one another. Every last taboo, every thought that had shouted in his mind about how letting this happen was wrong flew from his skull.

“Fffuck, Mabes,” he growled. “You feel amazing…” Those words must have been magical, because her lips sought his again, pressing earnestly. Or maybe she was trying to shut him up? Who knew, who _cared_. He wouldn’t let the bad feelings come back to her. If he had to do this to keep the nightmares at bay, he’d never stop.

They rocked together, one set of hips gyrating with the other for what felt like ages. Eventually Dipper couldn’t stand it anymore, and he grabbed Mabel tight, spinning around and rolling to lay her back on the mattress. She gasped at the sudden movement, then giggled despite herself. Dipper’s only response was to thrust, his thighs softly slapping against her backside.

“OhgodsyesDipdon’tstop,” she spat out as one word, and he obliged. Her breathing quickened, pulse hammering as he nuzzled against her neck. With a panting breath, he muttered something about being close to the finish line. She just nodded, legs latching around his waist. “On p-pill, don’t you d-dare pull out out,” she demanded. He merely nodded against her skin, pace increasing.

With a sharp breath, she sank her teeth softly against the skin of his shoulder to muffle her cries. Every thrust he gave made that sensation in her midsection threaten to boil over, closer and closer, until climax struck. Her back arched, a strangled moan of pleasure leaking out against his shoulder. Seconds after her own orgasm hit, so did her brother’s, his body tensing as he slammed in to the hilt. Every time she felt him throb her body trembled, the two panting heavily as they waited it out.

A few minutes passed, Dipper looming over his sister, both chests heaving with the effort of labored breaths. His slowly shrinking manhood finally slid free of his lover’s embrace, and the comparatively cool air on his sensitive flesh forced a shiver up his spine. She whined at the sudden emptiness she felt. He collapsed to the side.

The next few passing moments of time could have been an eternity. Eventually, Dipper stood up, collecting his clothing and tugging it all on. Mabel sat up, arms crossing under her breasts nervously. He snatched up her shirt from where it had fell, then turned it right side out.

“Arms up,” he instructed. She obliged, and he tugged the shirt over her head. The look of hurt on her face when he had her dressed again felt like a slap in the face. He recognized that look; she was afraid he’d leave.

Without a word, he lay back on her bed, tugging her close. She let out a squeak of surprise, but nestled up to him all the same.

“You gonna stay the night…?” He kissed her on the forehead.

“I could never say no, to you.”


End file.
